FURIOUS parents say their kids can’t play outside their £350,000 dream homes after a major construction firm never built their kids’ play area.
Families who paid upwards of £350,000 for homes in Pineham Village, Northants, say Taylor Wimpey keep breaking pledges to build the promised playground.
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The residents now say they want to sell up because there is nowhere else for kids to play.
Mum-of-two Stacy Lloyd, 32, has children aged six and 11 and says there’s a little bit of green nearby but it’s not big enough so kids spill out onto the street.
Seeing them playing football outside people’s homes because they’ve got nowhere else to go leaves her feeling frustrated.
She feels “disregarded” by Taylor Wimpey and says the families have been given “excuse after excuse”.
Stacy said: “It’s a real kick when you see them building new sites and advertising their sites as family-orientated, when they haven’t finished the job here.
“A lot of people on this site have moved here and bought the houses on the pretence that this would be a nice place to raise a family. But actually we haven’t got any of the facilities for that.”
A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said the company apologises for the delay and assured residents they are committed to delivering the play area.
The proposed play area was used as a storage site for builders during the development of the large estate, which saw a primary school built to cope with the influx of children.
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Since then, it has remained closed off. The nearest playground for children is in the neighbouring village of Upton, a 20-minute walk along a bridleway and country park.
The play area at the Pineham Village was due to be installed in June 2021, but the company say material shortages delayed the project.
Children and their parents staged a protest outside the fenced-off scrubland where the park should be – among them was Iram Mirza, 31, and her husband Omer, 35.
The couple paid £313,000 for their home in 2019 overlooking the proposed park.
‘INFURIATING’
Mum-of-two Iram, who runs tuition service Teach and Succeed, revealed residents must pay a service charge of around £100 a year towards the park.
She said: “We’re paying for it and we can’t even use it. We’ve got little ones and one of the reasons for moving here was to have a play area.
“How long does it take to build a park, really?”
Iram says the whole ordeal has been “infuriating”, feeling as though Taylor Wimpey moved on and “don’t care”.
It’s got to the point where everyone shrugs their shoulders and goes ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’
Stacy Lloyd
Dog walker Jo Edwards, 37, said residents were fuming that other Taylor Wimpey sites which were started after Pineham Village already had play areas installed.
She said: “The whole estate has been finished for months and we’re still having to drive past this eyesore.
“I do feel for the kids who live here. Apart from the green – which is just a green space – there’s nothing for them to play on.
“It’s just a shame. How much time does it take to put a children’s play area in?
“The people that moved in at the beginning seven years ago still don’t have a play area. “Some people had play-area aged kids when they moved in and they’ve grown up and there’s no play area.”
‘REALLY DISAPPOINTED’
Debbie Ormond, 34, paid just under £300k for a house to raise her two children, seven and 11.
She said: “We moved in three years ago – we never thought it would take this long.
“They told us during Covid that they were having issues getting the play equipment. But they can’t still be using that excuse.
“Judging by the rate it’s taking the kids will be grown up and gone by the time it opens.
“We’re just really disappointed. Taylor Wimpey couldn’t do enough when we were buying our home. Now they don’t want to know.”
Taylor Wimpey, which in March reported annual operating profits of £828.6m, has promised to start construction work “in the coming weeks”.
But Mrs Lloyd, a parish councillor, responded: “We’ve heard this time and time again, for years.
“It’s got to the point where everyone shrugs their shoulders and goes ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’.
“Actions speak louder than words.”
A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise for the delay and wish to assure residents that we remain committed to delivering the play area as soon as possible.
“This was caused by issues with the supply of materials which has now been resolved, and so we anticipate the installation will be able to go ahead in the coming weeks.”
Remedial works are scheduled to begin July 18, weather permitting, before the play area is installed in the next few weeks.
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